Boris Johnson pushes ahead with proposal to build a BRIDGE between Scotland and Northern Ireland as he asks Treasury and transport officials to advise on costs and risks of the project
- PM asked Treasury and Department for Transport to look at the costs last year
- Boris Johnson was then foreign secretary and wanted to know risks of scheme
- Suggestion to link 28 miles between Larne in Ulster and Portpatrick in Scotland
Officials have been asked by Boris Johnson to look at ambitious proposals to build a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Staff at the Treasury and Department for Transport (DfT) were ordered to advise on the costs and risks of such a project.
The idea was put forward by Mr Johnson last year, when he was foreign secretary.
The suggestion was to link the 28 miles between Larne in Ulster and Portpatrick in Scotland.
Boris Johnson asked the Treasury and Department for Transport to look at the costs and risks of building bridge from Northern Ireland to Scotland while he was still foreign secretary
Documents reveal that the PM wanted to know where money for the new scheme would come from and the risks, which appears to include 'WW2 munitions in the Irish Sea'.
The DfT produced a paper on the subject after talks between the DUP and former transport secretary Chris Grayling.
The DUP believes a bridge could break the Brexit impasse by removing the need for a border in the Irish Sea.
A spokesman for the Government told Channel 4 News: 'This PM has made no secret of his support for infrastructure projects that... [could] strengthen the Union.'
The suggestion was to link the 28 miles between Larne in Ulster and Portpatrick in Scotland, pictured on a map. The DUP believes a bridge could break the Brexit impasse by removing the need for a border in the Irish Sea
They added: 'Government regularly commissions work to examine the feasibility of projects.
'During the leadership campaign candidates spoke about a number of issues which resulted in Number 10 commissions ahead of a new Prime Minister taking over.'
Mr Johnson has previously been linked to unsuccessful infrastructure projects such as the Garden Bridge which was planned for London.
In 2011 the Prime Minister, who was then Mayor, also backed plans for a Thames Estuary airport. This idea was nicknamed 'Boris Island'.
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